Chronology of swords with a crescent-shaped top from Maeotian burial grounds

Introduction. Swords with a crescent-shaped top in Maeotian burials are meet less often than swords of the Sindic-Maeotian type from the 4th - early 3rd centuries BC. Methods and materials. The authors use the traditional typological method. The material comes from Maeotian sites. Analysis. There are three forms of crescent-shaped tops: classical crescent-shaped, V-shaped and half-ring top. In the sites of the right bank of the Kuban 10 swords without a cross-guard and 1 with a cross-guard, in the Trans-Kuban - 8 swords without a cross- guard and 2 swords with a cross-guard are known. The presence or absence of a cross-guard does not affect type chronology. The assemblages from burial grounds of IV Novolabinsk and Elisavetinskaya No. 1 hillforts date from the second quarter to the middle of the 3rd century BC. The dating is based on the type of the bronze mirror and Panticapaeum coins. Most narrowly dated burials come from burial grounds of Starokorsunskaya No. 2 and Lenin No. 3 hillforts located on the right bank of the Kuban river. The burials dating to within one quarter of the 2nd century BC typically contained amphorae and black-glazed pottery, as well as certain types of Maeotian grey-clay vessels. Results. The chronological analysis indicates the appearance of swords with a crescent-shaped top of the Prokhorov type among Maeotian tribes under the influence of the Sarmatians. The earliest assemblages date from the second quarter to the middle of the 3rd century BC. The chronology of more than a half of the burials does not go beyond the 2nd century BC. The upper limit of the existence of swords with a crescent-shaped top can be determined within the early 1st century BC.